Women from across Cumbria feature in new Cumbrian Girls Can films.
Cumbrian Girls Can celebrated the release of inspiring films at a summit with Kate Dale, the national This Girl Can Campaign lead, and top influencer for active women Dr Juliet McGrattan.
The gathering met to support the launch of empowering films for Cumbrian women who are thinking about how they can be active, but haven’t yet made that first step, and to discuss how to make the most of the films and learning from the initiative so far.
Cumbrian Girls Can is a community led initiative to support, encourage and inspire more women in Cumbria to be active by amplifying the national 'This Girl Can' campaign in Cumbria.
The Cumbrian Girls Can project has been facilitated by a partnership hosted by Cumbrian Rugby Union, and including Active Cumbria, Allerdale Borough Council, Lake District National Park Authority and LynchPin Support with funding from Sellafield Ltd, through Cumbria Community Foundation.
Katie Harper said “This event was about sharing what we have learnt from women across Cumbria, celebrating the launch of these films with an opportunity to network and building further inertia to empower more women to find activity that suits them.”
The idea of creating these films was developed based on understanding gained from listening to women and girls about what was stopping them from being active, from ideas generated through community workshops and a celebration of active women in Cumbria in December 2018.
Richard Johnston, Operations Manager from Active Cumbria said:
“Almost a quarter of women in Cumbria are not getting the health and well-being benefits that being active brings. Active women can often act as fantastic role models for others in their communities. These films are dual purpose, they may inspire women to start or get back into being active, but they are also intended to share what we have learnt during this programme with anyone wanting to support women to become more active.”
Kate Dale, national This Girl Can Campaign lead for Sport England said:
“I'm really excited to come back home and celebrate the success of Cumbrian Girls Can. The work they're doing to tackle the fear of judgement that can stop so many women and girls taking part in physical activity is fantastic. Women like us need real, relatable role models in our local community to show us what we can do; and we need welcoming, fun, social opportunities to be active to encourage us to take part. Cumbrian Girls Can are working hard to make this happen - and a as Carlisle girl myself, I couldn't be prouder of what they're achieving.”
To see the films please visit: www.cumbriangirlscan.co.ukor follow Cumbrian Girls Can on Facebook.
-ENDS-
Notes to Editor
For more information please contact:
Katie Harper on cumbriangirlscan@gmail.com
About Cumbrian Girls Can
Cumbrian Girls Can is a community led initiative to encourage, support and inspire Cumbrian women to get active. It has been exploring whether following the approaches recommended by the national This Girl Can Campaign – but giving it a Cumbrian ‘place’ association.
Cumbrian Girls Can have reached out to women across Cumbria to understand thoughts, feelings and perceptions around the barriers for many women to becoming active, but also sought to understand what helps women overcome these barriers. Along this journey the power of seeing is believing and women speaking to women about their experience twinned has become evident. There is also a true richness of active women and girls in the county who appreciate the benefits they experience from being active and are enthusiastic about sharing it with others to empower them.
Cumbrian Girls Can has been facilitated by a partnership – hosted by Cumbria Rugby Union, and including Active Cumbria, Allerdale Borough Council, Lake District National Park Authority and LynchPin Support. Cumbrian Girls Can has been funded by Sellafield Ltd, through Cumbria Community Foundation.
About the national This Girl Can Campaign
Sport England lead the national This Girl Can Campaign which is funded by the National Lottery. The guidance, tools and information that has provided the basis for what we have explored in Cumbria are available to anyone keen to support women getting active. Whether you run a class, club or leisure centre, or are just on a one-person mission to help women you know and care about find their way to get active, there’s something for you in the This Girl Can Supporter’s Toolkit available here:www.thisgirlcan.co.uk
